Apparatus for crushing fragile material

ABSTRACT

An improved apparatus for disposing of broken articles, especially broken pieces of fragile material, such as glass, glassware, pottery and earthernware. According to this invention, a large quantity of such material can be disposed of continuously without stopping the operation; the dust produced while the material is being crushed can quickly be settled down, so that immediately upon completion of the crushing operation, the apparatus may be opened to discharge the crushed particles without contaminating the ambient air; sieve means is provided for separating uncrushable articles, such as metal and plastic pieces, from the crushed material; and the crushing means is so shaped and disposed relative to the chamber housing the means that no vacant space is formed between the means and the chamber to allow any of the material getting jammed with the crushing means and preventing its smooth operation.

United States Patent [191 Nakao June 4,1974

[ APPARATUS FOR CRUSHING FRAGILE MATERIAL [76] Inventor: KazutoshiNakao,8,Tsuruha-cho l-chome, Showa-ku, Nagoya, Japan [22] Filed: Aug. 21, 1972[21] Appl. No.: 282,010

Primary Examiner-Granville Y. Custer, Jr. Attorney, Agent, orFirm-Spencer & Kaye [57] ABSTRACT An improved apparatus for disposing ofbroken articles, especially broken pieces of fragile material, such asglass, glassware, pottery and earthernware. According to this invention,a large quantity of such material can be disposed of continuouslywithout stopping the operation; the dust produced while the material isbeing crushed can quickly be settled down, so that immediately uponcompletion of the crushing operation, the apparatus may be opened todischarge the crushed particles without contaminating the ambient air;sieve means is provided for separating uncrushable articles,

[56] References cued such as metal and plastic pieces, from the crushedma- UNITED STATES ENTS terial; and the crushing means is so shaped anddis- 2,339,961 1/1944 Stevenson 241/30 X posed relative to the chamberhousing the means that 2.9 6161 8/1961 Picalarga 241/79 X no vacantspace is formed between the means and the Morgan 6! t chamber to allowany of jammed 3,489,354 1/1970 Harper et al 241/99 X withthe crushingmeans and preventing its Smooth 3,529,779 9/1970 Gorman et a1 241/38Operation 3,655,138 4/1972 Luscombe 241/99 9 Claims, 5 Drawing Figures17 I 7 2 3 R l a W 5 7 6 4s 5 4 4b 4c l l l PATENTEDJUN 4mm 1814.332

SHEET 2 (IF 4 PATENTEDJIJH 4 I974 v sum u or- 4 1 APPARATUS FORCRUSI'IING F RAGIL MATERIAL BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION This inventionrelates to improvements in apparatus for disposing of broken articles,particularly broken pieces of fragile articles such as glass, glasswareand earthernware.

Broken articles, such as broken glass, glassware and earthernware,discarded from hospitals, apartment houses, factories and the like havehitherto been left to the hands of the appropriate department of thelocal governmental authorities for the disposal thereof, or have beendeposited in dumping places after having been crushed into smallerpieces by a crushing machine having rotary crushing blades, such asshown in FIG. 5 of the accompanying drawings. But the crushing machinehaving rotary crushing blades as shown in FIG. 5 have beenunsatisfactory in a number of respects. When the articles to be crushedare put into the machine, some of them get in the gap existing betweenthe lower edges of the crushing blades and the bottom of the machine,and tend to prevent the blades from rotating smoothly during thecrushing operation. Moreover,

it is necessary to stop the machine in order to empty it when eachcharge has been crushed. Furthermore, when the machine is opened todischarge its crushed contents, the dust of broken articles producedduring the crushing operation flows out of the machine to contaminatethe atmosphere around the machine. It is pos sible to wait until aftersuch dust settles down on the bottom of the machine, and then open themachine to discharge its contents. But it takes a fairly long timebefore the dust settles down on the bottom of the machine, and theoperating efficiency of the machine is considerably reduced, especiallywhen the machine has to be operated repeatedly for one charge afteranother to dispose of a large quantity of broken articles. Furthermore,the machine is not designed for automatic separation between fragilearticles such as glass and pottery, and infragile articles, such asmetals, corks and plastics, which are often carried into the machinewith fragile articles, but are hard to crush and necessitate troublesomework for subsequent removal of such uncrushable articles. a

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION It is, therefore, an object of this inventionto provide an improved method of, and apparatus for, disposing of brokenarticles in which the apparatus may be emptied of its crushed contentsat any time during operation without stopping the apparatus.

It is another object of this invention to provide an improved crushingapparatus having means for settling down the dust of broken articlesproduced during the crushing operation and keep the dust from flowingout of the apparatus when its crushed contents are being discharged.

It is a further object of this invention to provide an improved crushingmachine having means for separating uncrushable articles, such asmetals, corks and plas tics, from crushed articles. such as glass andpottery, when the machine is emptied of after fragile contentsafterfragile articles have been crushed.

According to this invention, water is sprayed into a crushing chamber,and the dust or fine floating particles produced during the crushingoperation are caused to settle down on the bottom of the crushingchamber, and do not flow out through a duct, thereby preventingcontamination of the ambient air. In order to open the apparatus, uponcompletion of the crushing operation for one charge of material, to putthe next charge therein, it is not necessary to wait for a long time ashas been necessary with the machine known in the art to have dust settledown after the material has been crushed. This means a remarkablereduction in the total length of time required for a series of crushingoperation when the apparatus has to be operated repeatedly for crushingone charge of material after another to handle a large quantity ofmaterial at a time.

The apparatus of this invention includes inverted frustoconical crushingmeans having a plurality of hitting plates, and mounted in the bottom ofa crushing chamber. The material which has been crushed into smallerpieces as they are hit by the rotating hitting plates in thefrustoconical means is caused by the centrifugal force generated by therotation of the frustoconical means to move up along the outwardlyspread side wall of the frustoconical means, and strike against the sidewall of the crushing chamber extending above the frustoconical means tobe crushed into still smaller pieces or particles. The material thuscrushed is then discharged from the crushing chamber through a dischargeoutlet provided in a portion of the side wall of the chamber. The outercircumferential edge of the frustoconical means is properly sealedagainst the side wall of the crushing chamber, so that the apparatus canbe used for a long time continuously without any of the material beingprocessed getting into the space between the frustoconical means and theside wall of the crushing chamber, and preventing the smooth rotation ofthe frustoconical means.

The typical crushing machine known in the art has a dead space or gapformed between the lower edges of the crushing blades and the bottom ofthe crushing chamber as indicated at g in FIG. 5. It is, therefore,unavoidable that some of the material to be crushed gets jammed in thegap g, and prevents the crushing blades from rotating smoothly. But thisproblem does not arise in the apparatus of this invention, because thereis no such space or gap formed between the hitting plates and the bottomand side walls of the frustoconical means as shown in FIG. 4, but thefrustoconical means and the hitting plates are formed integrally forrotation together.

The apparatus according to this invention further in: cludes vibratorysieve means supported at an angle to a horizontal plane in a positionabove a pair of boxes for receiving the material processed through theapparatus. One of these boxes. is positioned immediately below the sieveto receive the finer-grained particles, such as of glass and pottery,which are sized to pass through the sieve, and the other box ispositioned below the lower edge of the slanting sieve to receive piecesof metals, corks, plastics, or the like carried with crushable articlesof glass, pottery and the like, and

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS FIG. 4 is an enlarged perspective viewof the crushingmeans used in the apparatus shown in FIG. 1; and

FIG. is a perspective view of the crushing blades used in the apparatusknown in the art.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT Referring now to the drawingsmore particularly, a preferred form of the apparatus according to thisinvention is generally enclosed in a casing 1. A crushing chamber 2 ismounted in the upper portion of the easing 1, and a cover 3 is hinged tothe top ofthe chamber 2. An upright rotary shaft" 5 isextended intothecrushing chamber 2 through the holes provided in the center of thebottom walls 2b of thechamber 2. Crushing means 4 having an invertedfrustoconieal shape in vertical section is secured to the upper end ofthe rotary shaft 5, and is positioned in the crushing chamber 2 adjacentto the upper bottom wall 2b thereof. The crushing means 4 comprises acircular bottom wall 4b, an inverted frustoconical side wall 4sspreading upwardly from the outer periphery of the bottom wall 4b, and aplurality of radially disposed hitting plates 4h extending from thecentrally disposed rotary shaft 5 and secured to the bottom and sidewalls 4b and 4s. The upper circumferential edge 40 of the crushing means4 slidably rests on an annular projection 6 inwardly extending from theside wall of the crushing chamber 2, and maintains a sliding contactwith seal means provided on the annular projection 6, but not shown inthe drawings. The upper edges of the hitting plates 411 aresodimensioned as not to projectabove the circumferential edge 40 of theside wall 4s. 1

A discharge opening 7 is provided in the side wall of the crushingchamber 2 in a position above and adjacent to the crushing means 4. Theopening 7 is communicated with a duct 8 extending downwardly therefrom.A vibratory sieve 9 is mounted in the enlarged lower end portion of theduct 8, and disposed in a slanting position or at an angle to thehorizontal plane. The sieve surface of the sieve 9 by gravity. Both theboxes 10 and 11 are capable of being pulled out of the casing 1.

A door 12 is provided swingably about one edge of the opening 7, and alever 13 for opening or closing the door 12 is provided outwardly of thedoor 12. The lever 13 is connected to the door 12 at one end thereof,and to a worm gear 14 at the other end. The worm gear 14 is engaged witha worm 14 connected to a motor 15.

Downwardly directed nozzle means 16 is provided centrally under thecover 3 of the crushing chamber 2, and connected to one end of a conduit17 extending through a groove 3 formed on the underside of the cover 3.The other end of the conduit 17 is connected to one end of a verticallyextending conduit 21, and the other end of the conduit 21 is connectedwith the outlet of a pump 20. The inlet of the pump 20 is connected to awater tank by appropriate conduit means. The pump 10 is mounted on abase frame structure 22 which is positioned in the lower portion of thecasing l, and on which the crushing chamber 2 is mounted.

A motor 23 is mounted in the base frame 22, and pulley means 27 isconnected to the output of the motor 23. Another pulley means 26 issecured to the lower end of the rotary shaft 5 inserted into thecrushing means 4 at the upper end and supported intermediate the endsthereof by a pair of bearing means 24 and 25 at the bottom of thecrushing chamber 2. Belt means 28 is passed around the pulley means 26and 27 to transmit rotation from the motor 23 to the rotary shaft 5through the pulleys 27 and 26.

In operation, the cover 3is opened to put broken articles of glass,pottery, or the like into the crushing chamber 2. After the cover 3 isclosed, the motor 23 is actuated to rotate the rotary shaft 5, hence thecrushing means 4.'As the crushing means 4 is rotated, the articles arehit by the hitting plates 4h and crushed into smaller pieces, and thosesmaller pieces are violently thrown against the wall of the crushingchamber 2 by the centrifugal force developed by the rotation of thecrushing means 4, and crushed into still smaller pieces 9 is adapted tovibrate in a slanting direction perpendicular to the surface thereof andcan be provided with any suitable, known vibration generator for thispurpose. A box 10 is positioned below the sieve 9 for receiving thecrushed material discharged from the crushing chamber 2 through theopening 7 and the duct 8, and passed through the sieve 9. Another box 11is provided below the lower-edge of the slantingly disposed sieve'9 toreceive the uncrushed material incapable of passing through the sieve 9,and falling along the or particles. Since the upper edges of the hittingplates 4h are so designed as not to project above the outercircumferential edge 40, it will be understood that there is nopossibility of the material being crushed getting jammed between thehitting plates 4/: and the wall of the crushing chamber 2. The pump 20is actuated to spray water from the nozzle 16 into the crushing chamber2 to settle down the dust of the material being crushed. When thecrushable contents of the crushing chamber 2 are crushed intosufficiently small particles, the motor 15 is actuated to move the lever13 away from the crushing chamber 2 and thereby open the door 12 for thedischarge opening 7 to a position shown in FIG. 2. Upon opening of thedoor 12, the crushed material is thrown out from the chamber 2 into theduct 8 by the centrifugal force generated by the rotation of thecrushing means 4. It is quite often inevitable that uncrushablearticles, such as corks and plastics products, adhere to crushablearticles put into the crushing chamber 2 therewith. While suchuncrushable articles remain substantially uncrushed, they are dischargedfrom the chamber 2 into the duct 8 with the crushed material when thedoor 12 is opened. The material thrown into the duct 8 falls through theduct 8 onto the vibrating sieve 9, and the crushed material passesthrough the sieve 9 and drops into the box 10 positioned immediatelybelow the sieve 9, while the uncrushed material falls down from thelower edge of the sieve 9 into the box 11.

What is claimed is:

1. An apparatus for disposing of broken articles, such as broken glass,glassware and pottery, comprising:

a crushing chamber having rotary crushing means installed in the lowerportion thereof, said rotary crushing means having an invertedfrustoconical shape in vertical cross section, and comprising: acircular bottom wall; a round side wall spreading outwardly from theouter periphery of said bottom wall; and a plurality of upright hittingplates radially extending from the vertical axis of rotation of saidcrushing means, and joined to said bottom wall and said side wall;

means for settling down the dust rising from said articles while saidarticles are being crushed in said crushing chamber;

duct means connected to a closable opening provided in the side wall ofsaid crushing chamber, and extending downwardly from said opening alongone side of said crushing chamber;

and box means positioned below said duct means for receiving saidarticles after they have been subjected to a crushing operation in saidcrushing chamber.

2. The apparatus as defined in claim 1, wherein said crushing means ispositioned adjacent to the bottom of said crushing chamber, and securedto an upright rotary shaft extending through the center of said bottomof said crushing chamber into said vertical axis of rotation of saidcrushing means.

3. The apparatus as defined in claim 1, wherein the uppercircumferential edge of said crushing means is slidably supported in asealed manner on the inner wall of said crushing chamber.

4. The apparatus as defined in claim 1, wherein the upper edges of saidhitting plates are dimensioned to extend no higher than the uppercircumferential edge of said side wall, whereby none of the articlesintroduced into said chamber can get jammed between said hitting platesand the side wall of said crushing chamber.

5. The apparatus as defined in claim 1, wherein said closable opening isprovided in said side wall of said crushing chamber in a position abovethe upper circumferential edge of said crushing means.

6. An apparatus for disposing of broken articles, such as broken glass,glassware and pottery, comprising:

a crushing chamber having rotary crushing means installed in the lowerportion thereof;

means for settling down the dust rising from said articles while saidarticles are being crushed in said crushing chamber;

duct means connected to a closable opening provided in the side wall ofsaid crushing chamber in a position above the upper circumferential edgeof said crushing means, and extending downwardly from said opening alongone side of said crushing chamber;

door means installed swingably about one edge of said opening;

and box means positioned below said duct means for receiving saidarticles after they have been subjected to a crushing operation in saidcrushing chamber.

7. The apparatus as defined in claim 1, further including vibratorysieve means mounted in a slanting position within the lower end of saidduct means, wherein said box means comprises two boxes placed side byside, one of said boxes being positioned immediately below said sievemeans to receive said articles crushed to the extent permitting passagethrough said sieve means, and the other box being positionedsubstantially below the lower edge of said sieve means to receiveuncrushable material carried into said crushing chamber with saidarticles.

8. The apparatus as defined in claim 1, wherein said dust settling meanscomprises a device for introducing a supply of water into said crushingchamber.

9. The apparatus as defined in claim 8, wherein said water supply deviceincludes a nozzle provided at the top of said crushing chamber.

1. An apparatus for disposing of broken articles, such as broken glass, glassware and pottery, comprising: a crushing chamber having rotary crushing means installed in the lower portion thereof, said rotary crushing means having an inverted frustoconical shape in vertical cross section, and comprising: a circular bottom wall; a round side wall spreading outwardly from the outer periphery of said bottom wall; and a plurality of upright hitting plates radially extending from the vertical axis of rotation of said crushing means, and joined to said bottom wall and said side wall; means for settling down the dust rising from said articles while said articles are being crushed in said crushing chamber; duct means connected to a closable opening provided in the side wall of saId crushing chamber, and extending downwardly from said opening along one side of said crushing chamber; and box means positioned below said duct means for receiving said articles after they have been subjected to a crushing operation in said crushing chamber.
 2. The apparatus as defined in claim 1, wherein said crushing means is positioned adjacent to the bottom of said crushing chamber, and secured to an upright rotary shaft extending through the center of said bottom of said crushing chamber into said vertical axis of rotation of said crushing means.
 3. The apparatus as defined in claim 1, wherein the upper circumferential edge of said crushing means is slidably supported in a sealed manner on the inner wall of said crushing chamber.
 4. The apparatus as defined in claim 1, wherein the upper edges of said hitting plates are dimensioned to extend no higher than the upper circumferential edge of said side wall, whereby none of the articles introduced into said chamber can get jammed between said hitting plates and the side wall of said crushing chamber.
 5. The apparatus as defined in claim 1, wherein said closable opening is provided in said side wall of said crushing chamber in a position above the upper circumferential edge of said crushing means.
 6. An apparatus for disposing of broken articles, such as broken glass, glassware and pottery, comprising: a crushing chamber having rotary crushing means installed in the lower portion thereof; means for settling down the dust rising from said articles while said articles are being crushed in said crushing chamber; duct means connected to a closable opening provided in the side wall of said crushing chamber in a position above the upper circumferential edge of said crushing means, and extending downwardly from said opening along one side of said crushing chamber; door means installed swingably about one edge of said opening; and box means positioned below said duct means for receiving said articles after they have been subjected to a crushing operation in said crushing chamber.
 7. The apparatus as defined in claim 1, further including vibratory sieve means mounted in a slanting position within the lower end of said duct means, wherein said box means comprises two boxes placed side by side, one of said boxes being positioned immediately below said sieve means to receive said articles crushed to the extent permitting passage through said sieve means, and the other box being positioned substantially below the lower edge of said sieve means to receive uncrushable material carried into said crushing chamber with said articles.
 8. The apparatus as defined in claim 1, wherein said dust settling means comprises a device for introducing a supply of water into said crushing chamber.
 9. The apparatus as defined in claim 8, wherein said water supply device includes a nozzle provided at the top of said crushing chamber. 